Aahs n Oohs posted on social media some trademark resgistrations they found...
Lots of theme park and theme park adjacent trademarks for Lord of the Rings properties by "Middle-Earth Enterprises LLC" who handles all licensing for the property when LOTR was sold to the Embracer Group (boo hiss). They currently license the property in several theme park adjacent spheres:
- Live Theater - LOTR stay play and musical was in the UK in 2023 and will be back.
- Location Based Experiences - Hobbiton in New Zeland, for example.
These trademarks are for the USA, meaning something is coming here. But what? Universal has been rumored to have some sort of agreement for use, but there hasn't been movement in the rumor sphere on that for years. Disney seems out of the running and I don't think the Six Flags parks have any cash to spare right now. This leaves us with some very small local park chains, like Enchanted Parks or Hershend or them going in on it on their own.
I have some other ideas, too.
The first coming to mind is a restaurant and shopping concept for a tourist destination, like Vegas or NYC. The Harry Potter Store in NYC is a model for how this could work: shopping experiences tied to a quick service dining concept.
Another is an immersive production of some sort. This can take a few forms, from a Scecret Cinema like movie showing where the Shire and other locations are recreated to a more Masquerade or Sleep No More production that is more theater-like. After all, they did have that UK play.
The last is out there but could work: licensed themed areas. Similar to how Nickelodeon properties have rolled out to several parks, I could see Middle-Eearth LLC wanting to trademark a few features of a licensed experience that is then designed and controlled by the LLC.
But right now as we sit we do not know what the trademarks are for, but it is endlessly fascinating what this could be Lord of the Rings is one of the largest properties that isn't in a theme park or other entertainment desintation experience. It really does spark the imagination of what they could do with the Middle Earth and the characters, besides put a huge pair of big naturals on Tom Bombadil.
